Why I Became an Intern for Hillary Clinton's Campaign

Millennials wield significant political power in America. Just over 30 percent of Americans are between the ages of 18 and 35, making them the second-largest group of potential voters after Baby Boomers. But Millennials in 2016 are less likely to vote than young people in previous generations, and many are so frustrated by both candidates that they are leaning toward independents Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. At the Clinton campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, six interns spoke about their experiences working on Clinton’s campaign and what motivated them to get involved.

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RUBEN CHAMORRO

Nicolas Penfold-Perez, 20, University of Vermont

Hometown: Caracas, VenezuelaTeam: Latino Vote

Coming from Venezuela and being a first-generation immigrant, hearing the kind of hateful rhetoric that’s coming from Donald Trump and his campaign is something that honestly scares me. I live with a lot of people who have come to this country seeking refuge from places where economic opportunity wasn’t the same or social opportunity wasn’t the same, and for us to be kind of setting those people aside and telling them they’re not welcome here is, I think, un-American. And if those laws had been in place before I became in immigrant here, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to grow up in this country.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Kevin Chen, 25, master’s candidate at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs

We had a rally in Flushing, [Queens] with Bill Clinton, and at this rally, a Chinese-American mother approached me with a photo. We mostly spoke in Mandarin and then she explained that 20 years ago when she came to the U.S., she had very limited English, she had no connections, and she didn’t have health insurance. She was also pregnant at the time, and her choices were basically either she aborts the child or she would have to give birth at home. But then, the state children’s health insurance plan passed, the one that Hillary [helped] push through Congress. And because of that, she was able to get health insurance and then she had her daughter at a hospital via C-section. The photo that she showed me was of her daughter’s high school graduation. She brought it because she wanted Michelle Kwan to sign it because she was the one who was hosting the rally. Stories like that really hit home to me. What we’re doing now is so important, not just for the next four years but for decades to come.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Ashlee Kuan, 20, New York University

Hometown: Herrin, IllinoisTeam: Operations/Talent

My parents are immigrants — they’ve been in this country for over 30 years, but they still can’t vote. They are die-hard into politics and they love Hillary and they would love to vote for her, but that’s an opportunity that they don’t have because they don’t have citizenship. It’s just really important that everyone understands that if you are a citizen, your right to vote is something you really need to take advantage of. I had the intention of pursuing law school, perhaps going into corporate law, and since joining the campaign, I’ve kind of changed my direction in thinking that I would love to work in politics.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Francesca Agege, 21, Tulane University

Hometown: Potomac, MarylandTeam: Correspondence & Briefings

As a Millennial, I was leaning a little bit toward Bernie but I had not really made up my mind, and I think as we got closer, as a political science major, I’m inclined to do my research and I saw that I aligned more with her. A lot of people would rather keep up with the Kardashians than keep up with what is going on in this country. And I think that apathy also comes from (1) a lack of empathy and (2) you don’t have the desire to look into the policies. The hatred that people have for Secretary Clinton, in my opinion, is unwarranted. It really just comes from the fact that she’s been in the public eye for over 30 years, and there’s so much mud-slinging. If anyone could just take even five, 10 minutes and do that research, look at her résumé, you would understand why you don’t have a reason to be apathetic, you don’t have a reason to be viewing this candidate so negatively. This is my senior year, so I was very, very conflicted. Who wants to miss their senior year? But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is history. And I will be able to tell my children in the future, my grandchildren, this is what I did to help get the first woman president elected.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Rose Khan, 19, NYU

Hometown: Queens, New YorkTeam: Women’s Vote

I come from a Muslim family and my parents are immigrants, so it really hurt to hear someone saying that people don’t belong in this country on the premise of their religion. Being someone that commutes from Long Island, I face a lot of conservative voters on the train. Sometimes people will just be like, “Oh, I can’t wait to make America great again,” which has become such an insult and just kind of a loaded phrase to me. Sometimes it happens on train platforms, which is a little scary, and sometimes it’s when I’m with my older brother, because he’s got a little bit of facial hair and he looks more Middle Eastern than I do. All these Islamophobic acts and all this anti-Muslim rhetoric going on — people actually care and it’s an issue that people want to remedy. In March, I went to my first rally as a part of the campaign and met Huma Abedin, who’s been an inspiration to me since I’ve been 16 because she was the first example of Muslim, South Asian women representation in politics for me. She was just so graceful and nice and intelligent, and it was just so amazing to get to speak to her. I don’t think that’s something I’ll ever forget.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Jehanne McCullough, 20, Gallaudet University

Hometown: North Bethesda, MarylandTeam: Millennial Vote

No presidential candidate has ever cared as much about Americans with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, women, minorities, and other groups as much as Hillary. As a deaf individual and daughter of lesbian moms, this is especially important and personal to me. I am the only deaf intern here, but this is such an inclusive campaign that I truly feel welcome. This is the first time working full-time in a hearing environment — where nobody else is fluent in American Sign Language — which can be tough. However, people here have been very nice and accommodating. Some even downloaded the ASL App to learn some signs! For that, I’m grateful. One thing I have noticed is that many younger people “forget” or do not realize how much sexism women go through, especially in the past. So, electing a woman may be less important to many younger people. I think the best thing to do is discuss Hillary’s experience and educate Millennials about who she actually is and what she has gone through. After graduating, I plan to go to law school. Thanks to my experience with this campaign, I know for sure that I want to get into politics and work with politicians like Hillary as much as possible.

RUBEN CHAMORRO

Election Day is Nov. 8. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can do so here.

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